November11

OK..worst case scenario..you get bitten by a snake or spider

How easy is to get an anti-venom administered and are there any of the dear little creatures for which there is no anti-venom??!?!

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Just a very important word of advice if you have an encounter with Australian snakes.
I learnt this in first aid training.

Never wipe away any venom on the skin. When you are taken to hospital it is vitally important that medics know exactly what snake they are dealing with as giving the anti venom of a different snake could kill you.

All hospitals are stocked and well used to dealing with these situations.

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Another interesting snippet.

You are far less likely to get dangerously bitten by an Australian snake compared to American or African. The reason being that the fangs on Australian snakes are very short and venom is administored down grooves in front of the fang, unlike Amercian and African which have very long fangs which inject venom from the inside of the fang.
Most Australian snakes only manage to scratch or graze the skin surface.

Seabird

There is currently no antivenom commercially availabe for brown recluse bites. http://www.merck.com/mmhe/sec24/ch298/ch298f.html

This suggests that one has been developed but isn't available yet. Shame really as it is very dangerous, causing skin necrosis that continues to spread well beyond the time of the bite and in some cases kidney failure. Although it is rarely fatal. I think people can have adverse reactions to antivenom, so I think that they are administered with due care and attention.

Bear in mind it is over 50 years since anybody in Oz has died of a spider bite. We also have a poisonous snake in the UK, how many times have you seen one? I was fascinated by a photo a friend took when in Iceland. There was a special cage that was put around a "dangerous" plant that had been found growing unexpectedly there guess what it was??? A stinging nettle! To the Icelandic people a plant that caused a reaction was serious cause for concern.

More people drown when doing water sports than at the hands of Ozzy wildlife. Change of lifestyle means you'll probably swim more, so increase your chances of drowning. But I know I'll be in the water whenever I get the chance, or be out looking at all the wonderful wildlife there!! Far more chance of getting killed in your car :scared:

Remember... More people are scared of the sight of a spider or snake than the sight of a gun, I know which one I'd rather take my chances with.

Good to keep these things in perspective.

brisbec

iread/seen that a king brown(in the outback)doesn't just bite ....it chews the venom into it's prey.........scary :scared:

however, to my knowledge there have been no known accounts of anyone being bitten by one


good job too

wombat42

Its compulsory for all Australians to carry anti-venom at all times because of the massive numbers of Aussies killed by snake and spider bites each year.
( around 1 or 2 )

cresta57

Most snake bites are caused when people try to play the hero. Left to their own devices most snakes are not aggressive. There are exceptions to the rule and Brown snakes have been known to actively pursue people. We had a couple of nasty bites last year up here and a recent death. The death was an old cocky who had a thing about snakes, he used to grab them by the tail Steve Irwin style showing off to his mates. He was bitten by one and rang his mate who mis-identified it and told him it was harmless. Two hours later he was dead.
We've worked on a lot of rural properties and almost all keep a snake gun [usually a shortned 410] in a handy position, kids are shown how to use it from an early age. I think all snakes are protected here in Aus yet the country folk don't hesitate to shoot them. As they say the laws are made by pollies in the big cities who've probably never been bailed up by an angry snake just out of hibernation.
We've had several small Brown Snakes a Taipan and a Red Bellied Black on the property in the last 18 month. I've also recently seen couple of huge Carpet Pythons, one so big it had it's head in the verge one side of our road and it's tail the other. The other was on a neighbours property sunning itself in the late afternoon sun just outside the chicken coup with a chicken sized lump inside it's belly.

Hey Wombat, isn't the thing next to the tin opener on the aussie version of the Swiss army Knife used for carrying anti-venom??

wombat42

Spiders are nothing much to worry about since no one has been killed by a spider bite since 1980. The most dangerous spider is the funnel web and l think thats only in NSW. They have an anti-venom for that now. l think they have a universal anti-venom that covers bites from all types of snakes so you don't have to identify what type of snake bit you. Unless go around picking up or trying to kill dangerous snakes or spiders you chances of ever been bitten are very small as they only bite people in self defence when they are being attacked.

Ceri

Funnel web spiders are Australia wide. There are lots of species of Funnel webs .The most famous one - the Sydney Funnel Web (NSW) is just one of the many Funnel Web species.

A lot of people seem to think that they Sydney funnel web is the most venomous , but apparently the Toowoomba female funnel web is a lot more toxic than it's Sydney cousin.

The Toowoomba Funnel web:
http://www.usq.edu.au/spider/find/spiders/201.htm

http://www.fido.org.au/moonbi/moonbi89.html ( scroll down to "Orchid Beach Spider Attack" )

http://www.gloriousnebo.org.au/LOR/LOR6.html

not a lot is known about some of the species, last count, I think around thirty odd so far which have been identified


cheers

spalen

You can get anti venom at Coles supermarkets, Woolworths, Action supermarkets , and most BP garages and 7-elevens. Also Pizza Hut or Dominos will deliver it if you order a 25$ pizza at the same time. Its about $3 a shot.

You can find it in the 'english' section or the freezer if it needs freezing. Most of the places have a loyalty card so you can get the 4th one free , BP's loyalty card is best because they dont mind which venom it is to get the 4th free - you can have 1xspider, 1xsnake then two more spider bites and get one free.

I dont think they keep any in the hospitals, or GP's or in any ambulances in the bush areas because they know they can get it from any 7-eleven on the way back. no worries , she'll be right.

Ozzidoc

LOL

Ozzidoc

I was at a wilderness medicine conference which covered envenomation where we were told that as humans r much bigger 1. the snakes dont waste their energy and 2. only a smallish % of snake bites (20% ish?) are envenomated. (Naturally, we'd always treated it as though there was venom though).
(For the cynics out there, this info was backed up by robust research. )

wombat42

l'm going to move over to Perth and sell snake and spider anti-venom to all the Pommie immigrants over there, l'd make a fortune.

wargod

You could also sell Old Curiosity Brain Tonic too - i have the formula - it reverses the signs of aging, and tastes good too

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If you are correct, someone needs to contact the St Johns Senior First Aid Course people to let them know their staff are giving us wrong information!! This was part of our course as little as 9mths ago!